Restoring her bottom

[Mac26Mpaul]

Hey all
I bought my boat with bottom paint on it (about three years old) and even though she lives on a trailer have just left it on there for the last year. All this talk about getting an extra knot or two out of a smooth bottom has made me think perhaps I should get my lazy bottom motivated to try and get the old stuff off hers. I am just concerned that if I use paint stripper to remove the old antifoul/barrier coat, it could end up looking like a mess, and the finance minister is not going to let me get her bottom repainted right now (not the finance ministers bottom, the boats obviously).

So, does anybody know of a good method/product, for getting ALL the old stuff off the bottom and leaving it looking sweet, not all blotchy and messy which is how it looks in the small area I trialed with a marine paint stripping product that I can no longer remember the name of...

Cheers,
Paul

[grady]

The only good way will be to sand off all of the bottom coat. Stripper will attack the gelcoat or fiberglass underneath. After you remove the bottom coat you will need reapply ether gelcoat or a hard bottom coat. If you are going to keep it on a trailer I would recommended VC performance epoxy. It is super hard and I have not had any issues with it on two different trailered sailboats.

[Mac26Mpaul]

Thanks for that,,, Forgive my really ignorant paint questions but I really dont know much about painting, especially boats (which is kind of strange considering 20 years ago I was in the Navy and spent countless hours painting bloody big boats - although unfortunately those years are a bit of a blur....) but,, after sanding it all off, is it possible to get a reasonable finish by hand painting rather than spraying as I cant really afford to have a pro job done at the moment?? IF so, does anyone have any hints about doing it while on the trailer (how to get the bits where it rests on the trailer for instance)?

[NiceAft]

Disappointed Not what I thought this post was about

Ray

[Highlander]

Oh, Ray

J

[kmclemore]

Yeah, I was thinking this would include another v-berth photo.

[seacatcapt]

But that was such a GOOD v-berth photo!

Paul, regarding your question of painting on the trailer, I did my boat that way. I've posted a description previously. To get to the parts of the hull obscured by the bunks, I finished all the rest of the hull and let it dry, then launched the boat a foot or so back off the trailer, secured the boat to the trailer with a tie-down strap and painted the newly exposed areas. Pictures of the process are available at http://s984.photobucket.com/albums/ae32 ... 0Painting/.

Randy

[raycarlson]

you can get excellent results with roller and brush,its best to do it twice,the first is for learning what works or doesn't and on the second coat you'll have some idea of what your doing.

[Mac26Mpaul]

Ray, her bottem is still in pretty good nick, although, a sand and paint will be required eventually I'm sure

Randy and Ray, great thanks. Couple more paint questions then.

I want to do where it was antifouled in flat black as the colour looks good down there. I imagine I need an undercoat first. Any recommendations on what is good paint to go with? Also, I should imagine this will also be a great barrier against osmosis right? I mean,, I do intend to leave it in the water for a few weeks hear and there, so not worried about antifoul but would like to know water aint going to penetrate that gelcoat.

Randy, to get the boat back on properly. My winch just bends if you try and take that kind of weight with it, so I assume you didnt winch it back on?? Or were you just lucky and able to do it right near a boat ramp or something so you could dump it in the drink to float it back on? Come to think of it, how did you get it back the required distance on the trailer. DId you float it back a bit and then pull the trailer out the water again, or perhaps push it somehow while it was still on the trailer??

Also, about how much paint did ya use?

CHeers,
Paul

[Divecoz]

If you choose to sand it off Be SURE and wear a good respirator....
There are some pretty nasty things in Anti fouling paint ..that you dont want to be ingesting

[Mac26Mpaul]

Will do, cheers

[MSN-Travelers]

Paul,

If there is any way you can contact the previous owner, it will save you a ton of work if you find out what he put on the boat.

A proper job would have a two-part epoxy barrier coat with anti-fouling applied to that. There is no need to sand it all off if the barrier coat is still sound.

A key piece of info is the anti-fouling paint. There can be compatability issues between manufactures & types. Simply sanding the current surface smooth and applying more of the same will make her bottom shine without abusing your wallet. 80 grit with a random orbital sander will the job done.

Paul
former 26M owner

[Mac26Mpaul]

Thanks Paul

No chance of finding the previous owner. He married a girl from your part of the world, brought her home to OZ. She got homesick and after 3 months wanted to go back to the US. He sold his house, his horses, his boat, everything,, in a matter of weeks, and took off with her never to be seen again....

When I tried the soy strip marine stipper stuff on a small area, it removed the greenish coloured barrier coat as well, so guess I will need to remove it all now....

Will have to get down to the chandlers and see what they recommend.

Thanks for the tips

Paul